March Madness: Takeaways from Day One of the 2018 NCAA Tournament

The best players came to play today

Starting with Trae Young against Rhode Island, all of the top players had big games for their respective teams. He finished with 28 points in a hard-fought defeat, including scoring 12 points in a short stretch to carry the Sooners into OT.

He wasn’t the only one to come up huge. Keenan Evans had a huge second-half to propel Texas Tech over an upset-minded Stephen F. Austin. Mike Daum‘s 27 kept the Jackrabbits in the game against Ohio State. But Keita Bates-Diop‘s 24 points kept the Buckeyes from losing.

Collin Sexton looks to steal the spotlight as the top freshman point guard left now that Young is gone. He dropped 25 points and dished out six assists in the three-point win over Virginia Tech.

The highest scoring game came from Seton Hall and NC State, where Al Freeman went off for 36 points in the loss. But the highest individual scorer came from a low-scoring game, with Rob Gray Jr. of Houston needing all 39 points, including scoring 21 of the team’s last 22 points to slide past San Diego State at the very end.

Ironically, the one star who struggled was actually the presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft in DeAndre Ayton, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds but didn’t have the impact many felt he would have in this game.